


Of Times Long Past

by LauramourFromOz



Series: Lest We Forget [2]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: M/M, Remembrance Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 02:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5189189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LauramourFromOz/pseuds/LauramourFromOz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remembrance Day 2015: A pair of old soldiers remember.</p><p>Check out my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LaurAmourFromOz</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Times Long Past

**Author's Note:**

> In this universe Yates didn’t go dark side for Invasion Of The Dinosaurs. Also, I know Remembrance Day is the nearest Sunday to 11/11 in Britain but here in Australia we always observe it on 11/11.

A pair of old soldiers sat in their back garden on the evening of the eleventh of November as the sun was setting. Captain Mike Yates and Sergeant John Benton, both twice retired. There was two fingers of scotch in each of their glasses and they were reminiscing. Reminiscing of a time long ago when they had both been much younger and more energetic, a time when, on an alarmingly regular basis, they used to save the world together. The two of them, The Doctor, and The Brigadier. The Doctor’s various assistants. Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Sarah-Jane Smith, and of course Harry Sullivan. Good old Harry. He was gone now, along with Sarah-Jane. And The Brigadier. Liz too probably, though they couldn’t be sure. Neither of them had heard so much as a whisper from or about her for… They did not know how long. Decades. They knew Jo at least was still kicking. Precisely where she was another matter entirely but she had been sporadically in touch with them over the years and always sent them a Christmas card. How she knew where to find them remained a mystery. Kate probably.

* * *

 

It was just after Jo had left to get married and explore the Amazon and shortly after Mike had returned from his post mind control leave. John had, at The Doctor’s firm recommendation, taken the first three and a half weeks with him. John had originally been supposed to take the first four full weeks of Mike’s leave with him but there had been a crisis that needed John’s attention so he had cut his leave short by a couple of days. Mike had spent the next four weeks on leave alone and mostly bored. If it weren’t for the fact that Benton was staying with him, in the little cottage in the village near headquarters that Mike kept but rarely used except for weekends and rare days off, and would drop around most lunchtimes. The Brigadier pretended not to know about this.

Mike had been back at work a bit under a week when The Doctor had taken Benton into the fray. This had left Mike and The Brigadier with nothing to do but pace the length of the mobile HQ and worry. Mike was beginning to understand how the Brigadier felt. The mobile HQ seemed miniscule and oppressive when there was a crisis going on outside.

The fray was in fact an alien spacecraft, an immensely cliché UFO looking thing.

These creatures obviously hadn’t looked into the galactic mythos that was alien conspiracy theories.

Alas they had not come in peace, they had com lay conquest to the Solar System. It was dammed annoying when they did that.

The Doctor and Benton had been promptly captured, something Mike and The Brigadier hadn’t known until after the fact.  The Doctor and Benton had promptly escaped, wired the place to explode, and hightailed it out of there.

They had not entirely cleared the blast radius by the time the place went up. The shockwave had flung them forward, pelting them with dirt and debris.

Make and The Brigadier stopped their pacing when they heard the explosion.

‘What the devil was that?’ The Brigadier had said as Mike, a shade paler than usual, flung open the door.

‘Sir, The ship. It’d blown up.’ Mike had said.

‘Any sign of the Doctor and Benton?’ The Brigadier was now inches behind Yates.

‘Not yet.’ One of the men, Mike uncharacteristically hadn’t noticed witch one, handed him a pair of binoculars

He scoured the debris field in search of John and The Doctor. After what seemed like hours, but was in reality almost under a minute, he spotted them. Unmoving.

‘There they are! ‘Mike had shouted and torn across the field towards them, The Brigadier at his heals.

Futile shouts of protest followed them.

The Doctor pulled himself to his feet, dazed and unsteady, and helped John, who was even more dazed and less steady, to his feet.

They supported each other towards Mike and The Brigadier. When they met moments later Mike and The Brigadier supported John and the Doctor respectively back to the mobile HQ.

‘Don’t you ever do that to me again Benton.’ Yates had said mock sternly while they walked.

‘I’ll do my best sir.’ Benton had replied.

‘See that you do.’

‘We thought we’d lost both of you.’ The Brigadier said.

‘You won’t get rid of me that easily Brigadier,’ the Doctor had replied with that omniscient look he had.

‘Nor me Sir.’

‘Yes, quite.’ Had been the Brigadier’s response half to himself.

‘Come on Benton,’ Mike had said when they arrived back in the general vicinity of the mobile. ‘We had best get you to the medical tent, get you checked out.’

John had obediently followed Mike to the medical tent where the on duty medical officer had given him the once over and sent him to lie down.

Mike had taken him to his own tent. As XO he had a tent of his own, as did the Brigadier, while John and the other men all had to share.

‘R.H.I.P. Benton.’ Mike had said the previous afternoon when John had mumbled something nonsensical and probably insubordinate about the fact that the one putting the tent up was actually him and not Mike.

Mike helped John off with his boots and fatigues.

‘I’ll come and check on you later.’ Mike had said, kissing him on the forehead.

With John out of commission their bump out was somewhat less efficient than usual. Mike had needed to order John, who could still barely stand, not to help and to ensure he followed said order Mike had remained in the tent with him. When it eventually came time to pull down the tent John had been feeling marginally better. In fact, he had almost bounced back to his normal self. Mike was not entirely grateful for this as he received a good deal of ribbing from the other man about his sub-standard tent demolishing skills.

‘That could be construed as insubordination you know Sergeant.’ Mike had said in response.

‘D.H.I.P. Mike’ John had said in his ear. In response to Mike’s mildly puzzled expression John had leaned in closer and clarified. ‘Dating has its privileges.’

‘That it does.’ Mike said kissing John discretely before looking back towards the half disassembled tent. ‘I hate to ask this of you but…’

‘Help?’ John has finished for him.

‘Yes.’

The tent was disassembled and neatly loaded into one of the Land Rovers relatively quickly.

Back at UNIT HQ John had been subjected to a proper physical and sentenced to a forty-eight hour medical leave.

There was, and is nothing John despises more than being forced to do nothing. Mike, knowing this better than anyone, went to The Brigadier’s office.

‘Brigadier, I wonder if I could have a couple of days furlough. Keep Benton entertained while he’s on medical leave. You know how he gets.’

‘We’ll try not to save the world without you.’ Had been The Brigadier’s knowing reply.

It was a full day before John got properly tired of Medical leave. Mid-afternoon on the first day John had been fully recovered. If he were to be honest with himself his recovery had come significantly earlier in th e day than he had let on. They were at the cottage and Benton enjoyed lying in bed with Mike. Mike’s slender angles a contrast to John’s muscled frame. It had been nice to while away the hours just the two of them enjoying each other’s company. John felt privileged to be privy to this side of Mike. He was one of very few who had ever been, of witch his family were not.

John loved Mike, all of him. He had never felt this way about anyone before. To love someone so deeply, so unconditionally, was something entirely powerful and terrifying.

They would not comment on the subject directly for many years but there was never even a shadow of a doubt that the feeling was mutual.

It was late morning on the second day before they spoke about it.

‘What happened the other day?’ Mike had said.

‘Well, The Doc and I circled ‘round to infiltrate the ship. The Doctor thought if he could talk to the leader in person he could get them to leave peacefully. Unfortunately before we could get too close we got captured. It didn’t take the Doctor long to break us out and we decided to move to plan B. So the Doctor rigged the ship to explode and we hightailed it out of there before they even knew we were gone.’

‘Don’t ever scare me like that again. I mean it. I thought I’d lost you.’

‘I’ll do my best. You won’t get rid of me that easily.’

And he hadn’t. They were both still kicking almost fifty years later. They raised another glass in a silent toast to their fallen comrades who had fallen saving a world that would never know.

_They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:_

_Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn._

_At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,_

_We will remember them._

_Lest we forget._

**Author's Note:**

> This has been knocking around in my notebook most of the year (I think I initially wrote it around March or February this year) there is an entire Three and Brig story-line that didn’t quite play with the memory component so the whole thing is coming forthwith (ish) once I’m done with y NaNoWriMo Novel for this year (also coming soon).


End file.
